The Copernicus Hackathons are a valuable asset of Europe’s Earth Observation (EO) programme: Copernicus Hackathons foster the use of Copernicus free and open data amongst different developer communities. They are one of the four elements of the Copernicus Start-up Programme of the European Commission (EC), which is composed of:

Hackathons are events that gather a large number of people representing various fields of expertise and having different skills with the aim of developing a software, starting from an idea and ending with an operational application. A hackathon can last several days and is basically a coding competition at which software programmers, developers, designers and other specialists come together to build and design something for a specific purpose or field. Hackathons can involve the usage of the latest technologies (e.g. autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), etc.), solving business or humanitarian problems (e.g. water quality, deforestation, etc.), usage of open data (e.g. climate data, Earth observation data, etc.) or any other thematic areas defined by the organiser. The specific role of the Copernicus Hackathons – initiated by EC in 2018 – is to foster new ways of using Copernicus and data and to encourage innovative business ideas.

During the first round, 10 Copernicus Hackathons took place in 9 different countries across Europe. As a result, 377 participants have collaborated in the intense programmes and competed to deliver the best applications based on Copernicus data and services and have developed 80 brand-new applications. These solutions are related to topics such as infrastructure development, marine protection, urban planning, climate change, forestry, agriculture and many more.

The abundance of ideas is as diverse as the backgrounds of the participants. For example, the winning idea of the 2018 Copernicus Hackathon in Athens is called SatShipAI. It aims to fill a gap in the existing maritime surveillance capabilities, by providing ship detection, type classification and size estimation from satellite imaging. The gap stems from the fact that the Automatic Identification System (AIS), mainly used for maritime surveillance, is a co-operative system: rogue actors can always switch off their AIS transponders or even spoof it to become “dark” vessels. SatShipAI is under development by Nodalpoint Systems.

Christos Iraklis Tsatsoulis, member of the winning team and team leader of SatShipAI states:
“The Copernicus Hackathon was a really great experience on many levels, and the awarded prize opened up an array of highly non-trivial opportunities. It was a much-needed, relatively straightforward way for teams like ours, outsiders to Earth observation but with solid expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), to enter the field of big satellite data. Such transitions are not always easy, but the Copernicus Hackathon facilitated it in a great way.”

Besides prizes from the regional organisers, each winner – or winning team – receives access to the Copernicus Accelerator (a 9-month coaching scheme organised by the EC).

This is also mirrored in the success story of SuperVision Earth. In October 2018, four people, who previously didn’t know each other, met at the Copernicus Hackathon organised in Darmstadt (Germany) by cesah, FabSpace 2.0 Germany and HVBG. Louis, Sebastian, Jan and Karsten formed a team, shared their individual expertise and developed a promising idea to leverage Copernicus data in order to become a global provider of information on infrastructure development. After winning the final pitching event of the Copernicus Hackathon Darmstadt, the team entered the Copernicus Accelerator. Next stop for the team was the ESA Phi Week at ESRIN, Frascati (Italy) in November 2018. Their pitch was selected as the best in the FabSpace 2.0 competition. With lots of enthusiasm from such great results, the team developed the idea further by turning their focus to monitoring oil and gas pipelines with data from space. In December 2018, they attended the Copernicus Accelerator Bootcamp in Marseille (France) where they won the best elevator pitch award. They have three key ingredients to success: a motivated team, a promising idea and great timing. However, presenting a great pitch is one thing, but developing a successful business is a challenge on a different level. In April 2019, the team was accepted into the ESA BIC Darmstadt. None of the founders would have expected the Copernicus Hackathon participation to take them this far – and now even further.

Jan Kolmas, part of the 2018 Hackathon Darmstadt winning team and co-founder of SuperVision Earth, explains: “Winning the Copernicus Hackathon in October 2018 granted us access to the Copernicus Accelerator, which, in addition, created the impulse that we might be onto something. After we won the pitching competitions at the ESA Phi Week and at the Copernicus Accelerator Bootcamp, we were certain that we should continue working together and turn our idea into a business. In the following months, we developed a business plan, assisted by our mentor and had access to webinars and success stories, all of which are available through the Copernicus Accelerator. The mentor, in particular, has been a key asset for us. Since we have limited business experience, an experienced entrepreneur giving us practical advice and keeping us on track was extremely valuable.”

Do you want to start a successful business?

The second round of the next 9 Copernicus Hackathons started in Bulgaria in April 2019. Further locations across Europe where participants are invited to attend free of charge are Ireland and Spain in May, Latvia in June, Italy and Croatia in September, and Italy again in November 2019. Dates for Denmark and Greece will be announced soon. More information can be found here.

Regional organisers are key to the success of the Copernicus Hackathons

The programme allows organisers to host their own Copernicus Hackathon with 85% co-financing (up to EUR 20,000) from the EC! The Copernicus Hackathons are highly interesting for organisations all across Europe to:

scout international high-tech ideas based on Copernicus Earth Observation data

develop new business ideas for their region to boost innovation and promote start-up creation

contribute to the increase in the number of users of Copernicus data and information within their region

The fourth – and last – application round will start on 1 June until 15 November 2019. Don’t miss out on this chance!

Paweł Kwiatkowski from Kapitech, the Polish Copernicus Hackathon organiser adds:
“Three cities, wonderful participants and a unique finale! The Polish Copernicus Hackathon hErO (EO hackathon for regions) was a great way to introduce the Copernicus hackathons programme. We are very pleased that we had the opportunity to organise the first Copernicus Hackathon in our region. By organising it, we gained important insight into the potential of Polish participants and we received fantastic results as well as thoroughly positive comments from all of the attendees.”

Out of many nominations, the panel of experts selected AZO Anwendungszentrum GmbH Oberpfaffenhofen as the winner of the Diesel Medal in the category of ‘Best Innovation Support’.

In front of around 200 invited guests and media representatives, Stefanie Herrmann (CFO) and Thorsten Rudolph (CEO) from AZO were presented with the coveted golden Diesel Medal by the spokesman of the Diesel Curatorium, Prof. Dr. med. Alexander J. Wurzer, German Institute for Inventions e.V., together with Dr. jur. Heiner Pollert, chairman of the sponsoring association for the Diesel Medal.

Originating from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), AZO has supported more than 155 Bavarian startups in space and satellite technology since it was founded in 2004. At the same time, AZO operates the largest space innovation network in Europe. AZO focuses on the commercial use of satellite infrastructures such as satellite navigation and communication as well as Earth observation and space technologies by startups, SMEs and large companies.

For almost 15 years, AZO supports entrepreneurship with more than 700 company foundation in Europe. In doing so, AZO has established the leading European space cluster innovation network for the satellite downstream market, while providing the necessary marketing and promotion platform, incubation and expert network, and regional funding programmes with the aim of increasing the uptake of business cases.

After the second cut-off date in January 2019, the next Copernicus Hackathon organisers had been selected! From April this year, computer programmers, entrepreneurs, thematic experts, graphic designers and other creative talents will come together from all over Europe to collaborate on the development of new software based on Copernicus Earth observation data.

Ideally, each team will comprise experts with skills relevant to software development, including computer programmers, graphic and interface designers, GIS and EO experts, project managers and topic related experts (e.g. agriculture, energy, forestry, oil & gas…). All participants to the Copernicus Hackathons shall be resident of one of the Copernicus participating countries (EU Member States + Norway and Iceland) or have established their organisation in one of the respective countries.

The winning team receives access to the Copernicus Accelerator (a 9-month coaching scheme organised by the Commission). In addition, the organiser of the Copernicus Hackathon often offers additional prizes to the teams.

Feel like you missed out on becoming an organiser yourself? Follow our open call until 31 May 2019 for the third application phase. REGISTER NOW to organise your own Copernicus Hackathon! Time to get new high-tech EO innovation into your region!

These are the new Copernicus Hackathons organiser of the second round:

8 out of 10 Copernicus Hackathon organisers successfully finished their hackathons in 2018.
With a total of,

>320 Participants

>400 Registrations

>70 Teams

in 8 Countries

these 8 hackathons had finished with great results.

Since September, computer programmers, entrepreneurs, thematic experts, graphic designers and other creative talents came together from all over Europe to collaborate on the development of new software based on Copernicus Earth observation data.

Feel like you missed out on becoming an organiser yourself? Follow our open call until 11 January 2019 for the second application phase. Apply now as an organiser and become one of next ten organisations to launch an individual Copernicus Hackathon in 2019!

The Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvestDate of Hackathon: Planned for March 2019
Country/City: Czech Republic / Brno

With the Copernicus Hackathons Programme by the European Commission, the hosting organisations will not only boost the use of Copernicus data and Earth observation in Europe – they will also spot the next-generation of space entrepreneurs in action. Hackathon organisers are supported with up to 85% co-financing with a maximum value of EUR 20,000 by the European Commission.

The first ten Copernicus Hackathon organisers are ready to start. From September, computer programmers, entrepreneurs, thematic experts, graphic designers and other creative talents will come together from all over Europe to collaborate on the development of new software based on Copernicus Earth observation data.

Registration for the initial Copernicus Hackathon in Leiden, Netherlands on 29th and 30th September 2018 is open now:

Cesah – Centrum für Satellitennavigation HessenDate of Hackathon: 12. – 13.10.18 and 17.10.18
Country/City: Germany / Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main
Topic: Smart city/urban planning with a focus on mobility for the Rhine-Main region as a template for similar regions in the world.

The Investment and Business Development Agency CzechInvestDate of Hackathon: Planned for March 2019
Country/City: Czech Republic / Brno

With the Copernicus Hackathons Programme by the European Commission, the hosting organisations will not only boost the use of Copernicus data and Earth observation in Europe – they will also spot the next-generation of space entrepreneurs in action. Hackathon organisers are supported with up to 85% co-financing with a maximum value of EUR 20,000 by the European Commission.

Feel like you missed out on becoming an organiser yourself? Follow our open call until 31st December 2018 for the second application phase. Apply now as an organiser and become one of ten chosen organisations to launch an individual Copernicus Hackathon in 2019!

Does your organisation support innovation and entrepreneurs? Then we have the perfect opportunity for you: Organise a Copernicus Hackathon. This brand-new initiative, financed by the European Commmission (EC), will bring together developers, entrepreneurs and topic-specific experts to develop new applications based on Copernicus Earth observation (EO) data and services. For each hackathon, the EC will finance 85% of your costs, up to EUR 20,000.

What could your Copernicus Hackathon look like?

Create your own hackathon event format! From 24 hours up to one week of team spirit.

Create an unforgettable training and coding experience with young developers and entrepreneurs

Ensure that the hackathon is embedded in the local, national and/or European Copernicus eco-system, bringing new players, such as large companies, public authorities, universities and research centres to increase your communication outreach and the quality of the hackathon.

Involve your partners actively in your event format

Why Copernicus Hackathons?

Boost the use of Copernicus data and EO in Europe

Support the development of applications that address societal challenges such as climate change or natural disasters

Spot the next-generation of space entrepreneurs, and help them get their business off the ground

What do you have to know as an applicant?

Any organisation registered in Copernicus Participating Countries (EU28 + Norway and Iceland) can apply to become a local organiser via a permanent open call at copernicus.eu

To get the best and most positively crazy outputs, you got to provide all necessary support to participants such as a nice venue, tasty catering, comfy accommodation, good equipment, cool coaching, access to relevant coaching and IT infrastructure. Communication leads to community! That’s why we expect you to promote the event and actively engage with the Copernicus eco-system

The European Commission co-finances 85% of the costs of your event with up to EUR 20,000. You will have to finance the remaining 15% (with your own funds or with partners)

Each hackathon winner will get direct access to the Copernicus Accelerator 2018 or 2019

The second application phase is open now! You can apply until 31 December 2018.

Applicants to the Open Call are selected according to their ability to attract and train participants, their capability to involve supporting partners from the Copernicus eco-system and their experience in using and promoting EO programmes

This is your opportunity to become a front runner in the field of space innovation. APPLY now to get EUR 20,000 to organise your own Copernicus Hackathon!